Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 93: Setting the Traps

The next morning, LongWei checked Zimo's temperature and ankle. He had agreed last night to bring Zimo with them through the forest to help set the traps, but if Zimo's had worsened the deal would be off.

"Dear, I'm feeling a lot better. Look my ankle is no longer swollen." Zimo said as he attempted to stand.

"Baby, sit down. The swelling is down, I admit. Even so, you need to stay off it or it will worsen again." LongWei said.

"It's fine. The sun has already started to rise. If we don't start getting ready to leave soon, we won't get much done today." Zimo said as he pushed LongWei to move.

Quickly getting dressed the two left the bedroom. In the living area five big men were sprawled out on the floor asleep. They hadn't even bothered to lay out any quilts.

"How could they sleep like that?" Zimo asked dumbfounded.

LongWei moved to Chang Shaoqing's side and kicked him. Awake.

"Woah!? What?" Chang Shaoqing uttered half asleep.

"Get up and help me prepare breakfast." LongWei said. If he could avoid cooking a large meal by himself he would.

"Oh, eh, yeah, okay." Chang Shaoqing said as he gave a big yawn. "What are we making today?"

"Fish porridge with the rest of yesterdays fish, and some buns." LongWei said as he dragged the man into the kitchen. Zimo meanwhile started on the dough for the buns at the table.

Hearing some noise, Kong Huizhong woke up. "Sorry, we seemed to have overslept." He said as his bones cracked.

"Hey! Everyone wake up. We have work to do." He yelled as he kicked the other three men awake.

"Yawn... man I never thought sleeping on a floor would be more comfortable than a bed." Xu Qingsheng admitted.

"Ah, it's warm." Yi Lei concurred. The floor in the living area was part of the ondol. It wasn't as warm as the kang bed which had a narrower opening for the stoves heat to pass through and was closer to the stove area. However the warmth felt nice and was unlike anything these men had experienced before.

"LongWei brought the flour, starch, milk, sugar, homemade yeast, salt, and butter for Zimo to prepare the steam bun dough. Unlike buns currently made in this world, Zimo's buns were soft and fluffy.

As he made the dough LongWei prepared the porridge and filling. Chang Shaoqing was hopping between the two, not wanting to mix thing.

While food was being prepared inside, the other four prepared the things they would need while setting up the traps.

Work went quickly, soon everyone enjoyed a delicious breakfast. As they ate LongWei went over the map with everyone. They decided to start from the south west forest. It was the most likely route the bandits might take.

"Should start from the closest area and work our way out, or here at the end and work our way in?" Kong Huizhong asked.

"Let's start from the furthest point and make our way in. It will be safer when navigating the forest and will take to most times." LongWei decided.

"Let's work together for today. In case any problems occur it will be quicker to solve them as a group. Tomorrow once everyone has gotten used to the tasks we can split into smaller teams to cover more ground." Xu Qingsheng suggested.

Everyone quickly agreed on a plan. Taking their tools, and some leftover buns for a snack / lunch everyone left for the forest.

"Chen. Run ahead ahead and survey the area. Chong our back is yours to watch. And Chu, protect us well." Zimo said as he patted the wolf pups before climbing on to LongWei's back. It was embarrassing, but Zimo would rather bare the embarrassment than spend the day at home doing nothing.

Walking through the forest Zimo had the men stop and mark the trees with signs and carvings. Even if the traps hadn't been set yet, the markings themselves would be a good deterrent as well as a road map.

"Babies, smell this." Zimo said as he taught the wolves not to approach the areas with signs. "These places are dangerous. You can't walk here without extreme care."

Zimo carefully talked to the wolves as though they were people. Tan Yan watched him eyes burning. While Xu Qingsheng wanted to laugh. "What's the point in talking to them? They're just animals." He said with a tinge of ridicule in his voice.

Grrr...

The wolves looked over at Xu Qingsheng and growled. As though they understood his words.

Witnessing this Yi Lei burst into laughter. "Looks like you passed them off. Hahaha!"

Feeling uneasy Xu Qingsheng quickly shut his mouth and moved further away from the wolves.

...

Finally reaching the area they planned to set the first traps, everyone quickly moved. They had practiced the day before and wee prepared. Zimo who was told to keep watch was placed on a tree trunk to watch.

LongWei had agreed to him coming along, but not to participate in the work with his hurt ankle. Zimo felt a guilty for simply watching. He decided to send Chen out to hunt while Chong would circle the area and Chu naturally stayed by his side.

He also took care of any prep work, so the other could simply grab and go each part they needed.

...

Hours went by without problem. They managed to set up a dozen traps and were ready to move to the next area. Stopping by a small stream they ate the meat buns and discussed how the work was progressing.

"I don't see any measure problems so far. The main one is making the area look as natural and hidden as possible." King Huizhong mentioned.

"If we can't make our traps looks unmistakable from the rest, than let's make the rest look unnatural." Zimo suggested.

"What do you mean?" Tan Yan asked.

"Well what makes our traps easier to find is the dug up dirt, and sparse vegetation. If we use a shovel to dig shallow pits or overturn the soil in multiple places, the bandits will need to check each area carefully." Zimo expanded.

"I get it, the places aren't dangerous, but it would slow them down and annoy them to know end checking or going around each one. If they ignore them they might just get caught in one of the traps." Kong Huizhong said as he admired Zimo's suggestion.

"Then we can move around and dig a few extra pits." Yi Lei said.

"The wolf pups can help with that." Zimo said proudly. The holes didn't need to be deep or precise, so the wolves could easily have fun playing in the dirt.

With their new plans settled and stomachs full from the buns, they continued their work.

...